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EAW Adaptive Reinforces Scott Hamilton Fundraiser

Skating Champion/Humanitarian Scott Hamilton’s annual CARES fundraiser for the Cleveland Clinic was recently held at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-based Anderson Audio provided an Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) Adaptive sound reinforcement system for the skating/live music event. The show in Cleveland marked 18 years of Hamilton combining live musical guests with champion figure skaters to raise money to fight cancer. This year’s program was headlined by popular singer-songwriter Michael McDonald.

“The unusual combination of live musical artists and figure skaters makes for a unique event,” explains Scott Harvey, production manager, Scott CARES. “Our objective is to provide our musical guests with the quality of audio they expect and the audience with the best entertainment experience possible – all while keeping an eye on the bottom line. The sheer amount of power, coverage, and ease of rigging that the Adaptive system offers allowed us to run under very tight timelines and saved us considerable cost – which is particularly important for our fundraising event.”

Anderson Audio has provided sound reinforcement for Scott CARES for more years than owner Chris Anderson can recall. This was the first time they deployed their new Adaptive rig for the event. The PA was made up of left-right hangs, each consisting of a column of eight Anya for the main PA and six Anna for outfill. Low end was provided by two columns of six Otto subwoofers flown next to each Anya/Anna array.

“We configured it to play to the seating area, which was roughly 180 degrees of the first two levels of the arena,” Anderson explains. “Coverage-wise, the solution Resolution software recommended – after we mapped the room – was quite good. The seam between Anya and Anna was almost impossible to find. Having provided systems for the venue before, I must admit that it was nice to have the room covered with such a simple solution. The quality of the bass from flown subwoofers was also quite impressive. We could keep the system high and out of sight and still sound really great.”

This event was the first time that Harvey, recently EAW Adaptive Certified, heard the full system. When the system was proposed for the Scott CARES show, he thought it was a no-brainer. “The knowledge that Chris Anderson and Scott McKeown from Anderson have with this system is truly amazing,” he adds. “Anderson Audio has been a longtime friend and partner of Scott CARES, and they have never given us anything less than 110%, but providing the Adaptive system for this year’s show put them completely over the top.”

EAW’s Adaptive Performance is utilized for a wide range of applications that require exceptional sound quality, high output and precise coverage. Both Anya and Anna can adapt coverage to any venue geometry in seconds utilizing EAW Resolution 2 software. Because the columns hang straight and have a relatively small footprint, they are ideal for applications like the Scott CARES event that require open sightlines.

“Recently, line array technology has helped to speed up the time necessary to fly a speaker system. Adaptive is an incredible advancement on this technology. Having the ability to plot the space out using the building CAD drawings and upload that information to the system is invaluable,” concludes Harvey. “We would not be able to pull this off in such little time without the speed of load in, flexibility of the system and the quality of sound from the Adaptive system. Standing at the other end of the ice after load in and listening to the full system I was blown away by the accuracy of coverage, how clean and clear the sound was, and the sound pressure level that was achievable. It added substantially to the success of the event.”
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